How Paul Manafort is connected to Trump, Russia investigation

President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, is a key figure lawmakers and federal investigators want to speak with in their Russia probe. Why and who is the longtime political operative?

Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, has pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team.

Manafort has been the subject of a long-running investigation over his dealings in Ukraine several years ago – for which he didn’t file as a foreign agent until June 2017. But Mueller has incorporated that investigation into his own probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates.

In May, a federal judge accused Mueller's team of wanting to take down Trump and lying during the investigation.

Read on for a look at Manafort's work with the Trump campaign and how he is connected to the Russia investigation.

What kind of foreign work did Manafort do?

Paul Manafort, former campaign chairman for President Trump, departs after a bond hearing as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing Russia investigation, at a U.S. District Court in Washington.
(Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

A GOP operative who worked for former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Manafort reportedly began his work in Republican politics in the 1970s.

Eventually, Manafort was hired by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a controversial pro-Russia politician who was ousted from power twice. After Yanukovych was elected president in 2010, Manafort reportedly stayed on as an adviser and worked on other projects in Eastern Europe, including the Party of Regions political party.

Manafort also worked for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. In 2005, Manafort allegedly came up with a plan to influence U.S. politics, business dealings and the media in order to “greatly benefit the Putin government,” according to The Associated Press.

Deripaska is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and signed a $10 million annual contract with Manafort in 2006; they maintained a business relationship until at least 2009.

Financial records obtained by The New York Times indicated that Manafort was in debt to pro-Russian interests by up to $17 million prior to joining Trump’s campaign.

He also took more than a dozen trips to Moscow and frequently talked to Putin allies over a period of about 10 years, McClatchy reported. He traveled to Kiev at least 19 times in 20 months after the February 2014 removal of Ukraine’s pro-Russia leader.

How was Manafort involved with Trump's campaign?

Manafort joined Trump's presidential campaign in March 2016 to help wrangle delegates ahead of the Republican National Convention in Ohio, something he'd done for former President Gerald Ford.

Just two months later, Manafort became Trump's campaign chairman.

Manafort’s resignation from the campaign was announced on August 19, 2016, after The Times reported that he'd received $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments from Yanukovych’s pro-Russian party between 2007 and 2012.

What has Manafort been charged with?

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, one focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, hides behind a car visor as he leaves his home in Alexandria, Va., after being asked to surrender to federal authorities.
(Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Along with his former business associate Rick Gates, Manafort was initially indicted in October 2017 on multiple counts that included: conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, false statements and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

Nearly four months later, in February, the pair was hit with additional tax evasion and bank fraud charges.These charges involved much of the same conduct Manafort and Gates were initially accused of, but the amount of money Manafort said to have laundered through offshore accounts increased to $30 million.

The charges against Manafort and Gates don’t relate to allegations of misconduct during Trump’s campaign.

Mueller also accused Manafort of secretly paying former European politicians to lobby on behalf of Ukraine.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges brought before him.

At a May hearing, where Manafort's team sought to dismiss an 18-count indictment against him, a federal judge accused Mueller's team of targeting Manafort to get information to take down Trump. He questioned Mueller's team about where they got the authority to indict Manafort on the alleged crimes that date back as far as 2005.

"You don't really care about Mr. Manafort,” U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III told Mueller’s team. “You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you to lead you to Mr. Trump and an impeachment, or whatever."